Description Field of the art

The present invention refers to a new container type for drinks. In particular, the present invention refers to a new bottle type, preferably made of plastic, adapted to be easily transportable by any one user by means of the components, and particularly by means of the components of a cap, which allow connecting the bottle in a practical and quick manner to the belt loops of garments such as pants, shorts and the like and which are worn by the same user of the container.

State of the art

Up to now, bottles represent the containers that are most widely used for containing liquid substances. These widely used objects are indeed adapted to contain substances such as water, milk, drinks, beer, wine, cooking oil and/or other food products, but are also adapted to contain liquid substances such as medicine, fuel, liquid soap and many other commonly used products.

Certainly one class of bottles produced and sold on a very wide scale, which has a great number of uses, is represented by the plastic bottles usually used for containing water, milk, drinks and similar beverages. The body of these containers and more in detail of these bottles is generally made of PET, starting from molded and blown preforms, while the cap is usually made of PE, PP or HDPE.

The preforms used are substantially characterized by a finish whose shape and structure are not subsequently modified by the blow molding, but remain unchanged in the blown container. The various finishes are differentiated from each other in particular by the diameter and by the type of thread, i.e. the set of transverse reliefs that are present thereon and which ensure the possibility of screwing to a specific type of cap. The precursor finishes of bottles are also characterized by the presence of a tubular structure, which is subsequently blown, whose weight in grams and shape are essential for the characteristics encountered in the blown finished product. For example, the heavier the tubular component of the preform, the stronger the final container, while the shape of the tubular structure of the preform, and in particular its length, affects the distribution of the material constituting the body of the bottle in the finished product. In particular, the length of the tubular component of the preform affects the distribution of the PET in the final container and must therefore be designed relative to the shape and characteristics desired for the final product. The PET mixture used for producing the preforms can also possibly have colored substances added thereto which confer a particular color to the finished bottle and which therefore contribute to the aesthetic character of the bottle itself.

Up to now, even if these objects used for containing drinks can be considered useful if not fundamental for many purposes, given their practicality of use and their relatively low cost, they constitute one of the greatest, recent sources of pollution.

Indeed, approximately 200 billion plastic bottles are consumed every year, and only a very low percentage (about 12%) is recycled. In addition, even if all of the plastic bottles produced and used were recycled, this in many cases would not be the ideal solution to the pollution problem. Indeed, in many fields, recycling has been criticized due to the enormous environmental costs of the waste transformation process characterizing the recycling, the low quantitative yield of the "pure" material obtained at the end of the process, and also the low performance quality of the characteristics of the product resulting from the transformation in question. This system, also representing the most expected solution to the pollution problem, has often been seen as an incentive for typically consumerist behavior.

The systems currently considered more effective for the management of waste are instead based on the concept of the reduction of waste and on the reuse thereof, according to which once the use of an object has terminated, it must not increase the mass of waste, but rather after a simple cleaning operation, the object must be newly used, at the same time preventing that the constituent materials thereof undergo transformations. The typical example is that represented by glass bottles, which instead of being crushed can be newly filled without having to sustain costly transformation processes - costly from an economical as well as environmental standpoint.

A recent solution, ideated and obtained in accordance with the principles of reuse of objects such as bottles for containing drinks, is given by a portable bottle that can be reused an infinite number of times, which also has among its characteristics the advantage of being foldable on itself when empty.

The documents US D619,906 S and US D622,612 S describe this recent and known portable/reusable bottle which is, in its more developed version, substantially constituted by three layers of ultra-resistant plastic material. The most internal layer is usually made of polyethylene, which is then bound to two layers of nylon in order to increase the strength thereof and the durability, and is in addition provided with a snap-hook adapted to couple the bottle, in a practical and quick manner, to one of the belt loops of the pants or to a backpack. Nevertheless, even if this bottle type is undoubtedly suitable for its reuse for the containment of drinks, it has limits substantially represented by the relative complexity of its structure and more in detail of its multilayer structure, which is however accompanied by relatively high manufacturing costs with respect to common plastic bottles, and also by the optical characteristics of the bottle itself which usually, but not necessarily, result opaque.

For such purpose, the present invention, which will be described in detail hereinbelow, proposes a new and innovative portable bottle type which can be reused once the initial content of drink present therein has been consumed. More in detail, the present bottle has a body analogous to the common transparent plastic bottles, and components such as a cap with characteristics such to allow the user of the liquid container to transport said container with him, connecting it in a practical and quick manner to a belt loop present on a garment worn by the user himself.

Description of the invention The present invention describes a new and innovative type of portable bottle, adapted to contain beverages such as water, drinks and the like, to be reused once the internal contents thereof have been consumed, i.e. once the drink that it is intended to transport has been consumed. More in detail, the present invention describes a new bottle type, preferably made of transparent plastic material, analogous to the common plastic bottles currently present on the market and manufactured by means of blow molding of a precursor such as a preform. Said preform comprises a threaded finish and a common tubular structure adapted to be expanded by means of the aforesaid blow molding.

Still more in detail, the container for drinks, object of the present industrial invention patent application, comprises as characterizing part a cap that allows very practically and quickly connecting the container, i.e. the bottle, to elements such as the belt loops usually present on garments such as pants, shorts and bags. Such garments, being worn by the user himself, allow the latter to transport the present container with him, without having to use further containers such as backpack bags or the like.

In particular the present invention describes a container for drinks comprising an expanded tubular portion used for containing the drink, and a finish, i.e. an optionally threaded neck, adaptable to a cap having particular characteristics such to make the container transportable in its entirety, and particularly couplable to the aforesaid systems such as belt loops or similarly suitable components, by means of a suitable device present at the base of the cap. Said cap in fact has a lower edge having a circular portion, like a common tongue, partially removable from a body with which it is initially integrated. More in detail, the cap has a circular base from which it is possible to obtain a tongue with a simple manual removal mechanism, for example tear-off. The cap of the present container also has, always at the circular base thereof, a hole adapted for the insertion and the locking of the free end of the tongue partially removed from the circular base of the cap itself. These characteristics allow obtaining a cap on which it is possible to obtain a slot that facilitates the coupling of the cap, as well as of the bottle assembled thereto, to the loop of the garment worn by the user of the bottle. The use mechanism of the present container is practical and quick and sequentially requires, as the only operations, the partial removal of the tongue from the base of the cap, the passage of said tongue through a specific loop of a garment or bag, and the insertion and the locking of the free end of the tongue inside the hole present at the circular base of the cap itself. These simple aforesaid operations finally allow connecting, by means of coupling, the container (i.e. the bottle) to a specific garment worn by the user of the bottle.

The bottle body, i.e. the expanded preform adapted to contain the drink, is closed via screwing by means of a common system provided with control band on the cap in question, the latter being optionally provided with a thread in its internal part adaptable to the thread of the finish of the bottle. Alternatively, said closure can occur via fixing. When the cap is threaded as described, the container that is the object of the invention is particularly useful: the bottle user will in fact have to execute the operation of coupling the cap to the loop of the garment only once, and can drink from the neck of the bottle at any moment he wishes, simply by unscrewing the neck of the bottle from the aforesaid cap which will instead remain coupled to the loop or to the bag to which it was previously coupled.

More in detail, the present portable container comprises a cap which is profiled in a manner such that it has a lower tubular portion, an upper tubular portion and an internal tubular portion which is concentric with the lower tubular portion of the cap. The cap is therefore shaped and sized such to ensure its fixing to the neck of the bottle, e.g. by means of screwing of said neck with the thread of the cap or by means of fixing. The thread is present on the internal surface of the internal tubular portion of the cap and ensures its correct screwing with the corresponding thread present on the neck of the bottle. The lower tubular portion of the cap and the internal tubular portion thereof are also sized in a manner so as to ensure that between the two portions a space is generated adapted to allow the passage of the free end of the tongue through the hole present at the circular base of the cap i.e. at the base of said lower tubular portion. In this manner, it will be possible to form the slot adapted to ensure the coupling to the garment or bag. A further characteristic of the cap of the container according to the present invention is given by the presence of at least one hole present on the upper tubular portion. The latter is also provided with a cap adapted to prevent the outflow of liquid from said hole. These characteristics finally render the present container adaptable to the needs of the user. In particular, if it is not required to connect the container to the loop, the user can decide to drink his drink from the hole/holes present on the upper tubular portion covered by the aforesaid removable cap.

It is also important to indicate that the closure mechanism of the container, with the cap, does not necessarily have to occur via screwing of the threads of the cap with that of the neck of the bottle as describe above, but it can also be obtained with a common pressure fixing mechanism.

Brief description of the drawings

FIGURE 1 shows a front view of the portable container 1 for drinks, object of the present industrial invention patent application. More in detail, figure 1 shows a front view of said container in its base version in which the following are observable: the bottle 2, adapted to contain the drink and the cap 5, adapted to make said bottle 2 transportable by its user due to the slot 12. More in detail, figure 1 shows the presence, on said cap 5, of a slot 12 obtainable on the lower portion of said cap 5 and which is adapted to allow the coupling of said cap 5, as well as of the attached bottle 2, to any one of the belt or bag loops present on a garment, such as pants or the like, worn by the user of the container, object of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 shows a front view and plan view of the components comprised in the portable container 1 for drinks.

More in detail, figure 2(a) shows a front view of the bottle 2 on which two main portions can be identified, in particular an expanded tubular portion 3 adapted to contain the drink, and a threaded neck 4, having a thread 13 and adapted for the insertion and outflow of the drink. Figure 2(b) instead shows a front view of the cap 5 on which two zones or portions can be identified, joined together and constituting a single body with said cap 5. More in detail, figure 2(b) underlines the presence of a lower tubular portion 6 and an upper tubular portion 7 which can be narrowed with respect to said lower tubular portion 6 and which is extended on top of the latter. Said upper tubular portion 7 is also covered by a cap 16, removable from the cap 5 with mechanisms of known type. The figure also shows that the lower tubular portion 6 has a circular base 9 from which a tongue 10 is obtainable, such tongue 10 subsequently adapted to form the slot 12. More in detail, figure 2(b) shows that the tongue 10, obtained via partial removal of the circular base 9 from the cap 5, has two ends, and in particular one end 10' fixed and stably connected with the base of the cap 5 and one end 10" movable. The latter is adapted to be inserted and locked inside the hole 1 1 , with circular or elliptical shape, present on the residual circular base 9 of the cap 5, in a manner so as to generate the slot 12 (not shown in figure 2(b)) after this operation.

The figure also shows that said end 10" is shaped as an arrowhead, in a manner so as to prevent the unintentional disengagement of the end 10" from the hole 1 1 once it is inserted. Figure 2(c) instead shows a plan view of the internal portion of the cap 5. More in detail, in figure 2(c) the presence can be observed of an internal tubular portion 8, concentric and integral with the lower tubular portion 6 of the cap 5, and having a thread 14 on its internal surface. The latter is adapted to allow the screwing of the threaded cap 4 with said cap 5. The thread 14 is provided with control band. Figure 2(d) instead shows a plan view of the upper external portion of the cap 5. The figure underlines not only the presence of the lower tubular portion 6 and the upper tubular portion 7 of the cap 5, but also the presence of a plurality of holes 15 present on said upper tubular portion 7. Said holes 15 are adapted to allow the user to drink the drink contained in the bottle 2, without removing the cap 5 from the threaded neck 4. In addition, inside the cap 16, a plurality of teeth are present that are adapted to be inserted inside the plurality of holes 15 present on the upper tubular portion 7. This choice is generally actuatable when it is not required to transport the portable container 1 by means of coupling to a specific belt loop or a similar element. In the latter condition, however, as will be described in detail below, the user enjoys the drink contained in the bottle 2 by removing the threaded neck 4 from the cap 5, which instead remains connected to the loop. FIGURE 3 shows a front view of the cap 5 in which the presence is indicated of the element that allows the removal of the tongue 10 from the circular base 9 of the cap 5. More in detail figure 3(a) shows a front view of the cap 5 in which the presence of the toothing 17 can be observed, such toothing adapted to allow the removal of the tongue 10 from the circular base 9 of the cap 5 with a tear-off removal mechanism. Figure 3 (b) instead shows a front view of the cap 5 in which the presence of a gasket 18 can be observed, such gasket adapted to facilitate the removal of the tongue 10 by means of the previous removal of said gasket 18 from the cap 5. In the latter case, once the gasket 18 is removed, the tongue 10 can be completely separated from the cap 5 and will constitute an independent ring placed below the cap 5 itself, but still capable of creating the slot 12, due to the presence of the tongue 10. Both figure 3(a) and 3(b) show the detail of the arrowhead profile of the end 10" of the tongue 10 to be inserted inside the hole 11.

Description of the preferred embodiments

In a first embodiment of the invention described in the present document, the portable container 1 for drinks comprises a bottle 2 and at least one cap 5. More in detail, on the bottle 2 of the present container, two main portions can be identified, in particular an expanded tubular portion 3, adapted to contain the drink, and a finish, i.e. a threaded neck 4 adapted for the insertion and outflow of the drink. The most characterizing component of the portable container 1, object of the invention, is represented by the cap 5. The latter in fact has characteristics such to allow its connection, as well as that of the bottle 2 threaded thereto to any one of the belt loops present on the garments worn by the user of the container or to a bag thereof, consequently allowing the transport of the bottle 2. Said cap 5, more in detail, has a lower tubular portion 6, an upper tubular portion 7, possibly narrowed with respect to said lower tubular portion 6 and forming a single body therewith, the two portions being stably joined, and an internal tubular portion 8 which is concentric with the lower tubular portion 6 and which forms an air space 19 therewith. Said air space 19 is of fundamental importance for the object of the present invention since it allows creating the space adapted to allow the insertion of the free end 10" inside the hole 1 1.

From the circular base 9, it is possible to obtain, by means of a simple manual separation mechanism, the tongue 10 which is adapted to allow the coupling of the portable container 1 to a specific belt loop or bag present on a garment, such as pants, worn by the user of the present container. The tongue 10 indeed has two ends, of which is fixed and joined to the cap 5, and the other movable and orientable. More in detail, the tongue 10 has one fixed end 10' which is an extension of the circular base 9 from which it was obtained, and one movable and free end 10" adapted to be inserted and locked through its insertion in the hole 11 present on the residual portion, i.e. not constituting the tongue 10, of the circular base 9 of the lower tubular portion 6 of the cap 5.

The insertion of the end 10" of the tongue 10 inside said hole 1 1 is such to generate a slot 12 adapted to be coupled to any one belt or bag loop present on a specific garment worn by the user, consequently allowing the transportation of the bottle 2 which is thus connected to the cap 5. This configuration is therefore obtained by the user of the present container by carrying out a series of operations of separation of the tongue 10 from the circular base 9 of the cap 5, and of insertion of the end 10" of said tongue 10 inside the hole 1 1. The aforesaid separation of the tongue 10 from the circular base 9 can occur for example by means of a common separation mechanism with toothed tear-off due to the presence of a tear-off toothing 17 present at the points of the circular base 9 from which the tongue 10 is obtainable. In addition, the locking of the end 10" inside the hole 1 1 is ensured since the end 10" of the tongue 10 is shaped and sized in a manner such to allow its insertion inside the hole 11 but also, due to the its arrow shape, in a manner such to prevent its spontaneous exit, without the intervention of the user of the container according to the present invention. In particular, in its preferred embodiment, the end 10" of the tongue 10 is shaped as an arrowhead, with the base of the arrow narrower than the tongue itself.

As stated above, the formation of the slot 12, obtained by carrying out the above-described operations, allows rendering the bottle 2 transportable by its user. Said bottle 2 is in fact joined to the cap 5 with a common closure mechanism, for example, via screwing, with bayonet o fit coupling. More in detail, the threaded neck 4 of the bottle 2 has a thread 13 adapted to be screwed with a corresponding thread 14 which is present on the internal surface of the internal tubular portion 8 of the cap 5. Alternatively, the neck 4 of the bottle 2 is shaped in a manner so as to allow the fixing or its bayonet insertion in the internal tubular portion 8.

This common and known characteristic together with the characteristics of the above- described cap 5 allow the user to enjoy the drink contained in the bottle 2 each time he wishes. In order to drink, the user must simply unfix or unscrew the threaded neck 4 of the bottle 2 from the cap 5, which however remains connected to the loop of his clothes. If the transportation of the bottle 2 is not required, the user can alternatively decide to enjoy his drink, drinking not from the threaded neck 4, as occurs in the case of transport of the present container, but rather from the cap 5 itself. The latter indeed has, in one of the embodiments of the present container, on its upper tubular portion 7, at least one hole 15 adapted for the inflow and outflow of the drink. More in detail in its preferred embodiment, the upper tubular portion 7, constituting a single body with the lower tubular portion 6, has at least one hole (15), and preferably nine holes 15, having a diameter comprised between 1 mm and 10 mm and preferably is 5 mm. In order to prevent the unintentional outflow of the drink from the bottle 2 and in particular from hole/holes 15, the cap 5 is provided with a cap 16 adapted to cover said upper tubular portion 7 and functioning in a manner analogous to the common caps for caps/corks present on many bottles currently on the market. In addition, said cap 16 can be provided with a plurality of teeth adapted to be inserted inside the respective holes 15, in a manner so as to seal the contents of the bottle 2. As stated above in the preferred embodiment thereof, the portable container 1 is characterized by threads which allow the assembly of the bottle 2 to the cap 5. This characteristic does not limit the object of the present invention, hence, in a further embodiment of the present container, the closure of the bottle 2 with the cap 5 occurs with a simple and known pressure closing system, or with a common bayonet closing system.

Also the tear-off removal mechanism for the tongue 10, from the circular base 9 of the cap 5, does not limit the object of the present invention. The removal of the tongue 10 can indeed occur, as described above, by means of the tearing off of a toothing 17 present at the points of the circular base 9 from which said tongue 1 is obtained, or alternatively and in another embodiment by means of the previous removal of a gasket 18 that joins the tongue 10, in rolled-up configuration, to the cap 5 in a manner such that said tongue 10, in this conformation, constitutes the entire circular base 9 of the cap 5. In a further embodiment the tongue 10 can be fixed on the cap 5 by means of a common pressure button or by means of Velcro.

In all embodiments thereof, the bottle 2 is preferably made of an optically transparent plastic material such as PET, whereas the cap 5 is preferably made of PP and/or PE and/or HDPE and/or any other polymer material with properties similar to said materials.

In addition, the bottle 2 of the portable container 1 according to the present invention is such to house a drink volume comprised between 200 ml and 2000 ml and preferably is 750 ml.